The Clinton Wars

The Clinton Wars Sidney Blumenthal Date: 20 May, 2003   —   $21.00   —   Book product page Rating:

"The Clinton Wars" is entertainment more in the vein of reality TV than The West Wing. You just can't script the political intrigue, the behind the scenes maneuvering, and the personality clashes that are captured by Sidney Blumenthal in this very well documented and highly charged account of his time in the White House.

Blumenthal was hired as President Clinton's communications director and senior advisor in 1997. If you don't remember the bitter, vitriolic political atmosphere the conservatives had created, this should jog your memory: The very first day Blumenthal started work, Matt Drudge published a report that accused him of spousal abuse, but alledged that the official complaints and arrest records had been covered up so well by the Clinton's that they would never see the light of day.

Unfortunately, that's the type of baseless story that Republicans and their supporters often resorted to using in their attempts to tarnish the reputations of The President, his wife, and all who supported them. Who can forget the accusation in the Wall Street Journal that Hillary Clinton had murdered White House council, Vince Foster? Or the stories that Bill Clinton had murdered dozens of people in Arkansas to cover up his "cheatin' ways".

In fact, Blumenthal spends a couple chapters chasing down the origins of these and other conservative tall tales. The typical conservative myth grows like this: Some wealthy Republican media mogul (like Richard Mellon Scaife) publishes a story in his ultra right-wing rag (like The American Spectator) about an "eyewitness account" of some outrageous scandal or murder involving the President. The "eyewitness" usually got funding for a book deal (which is why the right immediately tried to accuse O'Neill and Clark of 'selling books' when they told their stories; it's the Republican's MO) in return for the story. Then the less conservative media would report on the report, leaving the rest of the mainstream media to think it was being scooped, and so the story would make its way to CNN and NBC; all without any fact checking whatsoever.

In case you're wondering whatever happened to all those stories, sexual harassment lawsuits, file-gate, Whitewater, etc., they were all debunked or thrown out of court, usually by Republican judges. In fact, the Clintons were exonerated of any wrongdoing in the Whitewater case twice: once in 1994 by independent council Robert Fisk, and again one day before Clinton left office by Ken Starr.

And that's where this book really shines. Blumenthal provides a well documented, behind the scenes account of the attacks, the counter-attacks, and the mudslinging that gives the book its name. It's an exciting and very readable account of a White House under siege.